The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to the process of forming cables of contact members that can later be subdivided to form individual contact members for use in connectors that interconnect electrical circuit members such as printed circuit boards, circuit modules, or the like.
The current trend in design for connectors utilized in high speed electronic systems is to provide high electrical performance, high density and highly reliable connections between various circuit devices, which form important parts of those systems. The system may be a computer, a telecommunications network device, a handheld xe2x80x9cpersonal digital assistantxe2x80x9d, medical equipment, or any other electronic equipment.
High reliability for such connections is essential due to potential end product failure, should vital misconnections of these devices occur. It is also very important that the interconnections be as dense as possible, use the least amount of real estate on the printed circuit board, and minimize impact on the printed circuit board wirability.
In some cases, such as for laptop computers and handheld devices, it is very important that the height or profile of the connectors and the auxiliary circuit members be as low as possible. Also, to assure effective repair, upgrade, and/or replacement of various components of the system (e.g., connectors, cards, chips, boards, modules, etc.), it is desirable that the connections be reworkable at the factory.
It is also highly desirable in some cases that such connections within the final product be separable and reconnectable in the field. Such a capability is also desirable during the manufacturing process for such products in order to facilitate testing, for example.
A land grid array (LGA) is an example of such a connection in which each of two primarily parallel circuit elements to be connected has a plurality of contact points, arranged in a linear or two-dimensional array. An array of interconnection elements, known as an interposer, is placed between the two arrays to be connected, and provides the electrical connection between the contact points or pads.
A family of LGA connectors is described in U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/457,776. Although the conductive elements of the connectors are referred to as xe2x80x9cbuttonsxe2x80x9d in that application, they are referred to as contact members in the present invention. The aforementioned patent application describes LGA connectors that provide, among other things, a low profile, uniform electrical and mechanical performance, and reworkability if a contact member is damaged. They are inexpensive to manufacture. Also, in accordance with U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/645,860, mechanical performance and reliability are improved through contact member retention. U.S. patent application, Serial No. 60/227,859 also discloses the fact that electrical performance is improved through shielding of the carrier.
The present invention is a process for forming a contact member cable, which is merely a longer version of a contact member. The cable can then be cut into shorter, individual contact members, to meet the particular requirements for a specific connector application.
A process that provides a cost effective method to form a contact member cable can result in a significant advancement in the art.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to enhance the electrical connector art.
It is another object of the invention to provide a continuous process for forming a contact member cable.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a low cost process for forming a contact member cable.
The present invention provides a process for forming a contact member cable, which is merely a longer version of a contact member. The cable can be cut into shorter, individual contact members, to meet the particular requirements for a specific connector application. The contact members are intended to be used as the conductive elements for a family of land grid array connectors that provide, among other things, a low profile, uniform electrical and mechanical performance, and reworkability if a contact member is damaged. They are inexpensive to manufacture. The connectors are intended to interconnect electrical circuit members such as printed circuit boards, circuit modules, or the like. Such connectors may be used in information handling system (computer) or telecommunications environments.